LHC orders Lakhvi’s release

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: A judge of the Lahore High  Court ordered the immediate release of the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, after suspending his detention orders on Thursday.

The court passed the order on a petition of Lakhvi’s fourth, one-month each, detention order of the DCO Okara under Maintenance of Public Order issued on March 14. During the previous hearing, the government took the stance that he was detained on the basis of secret information that he would try to provoke unrest. Though the court had asked the government’s counsel to share the source of his information, he failed to do so.

Instead, the counsel sought more time to present the details – an act that infuriated the judge who lost no time in suspending Lakhvi’s detention orders. The judge also asked the government to share the information at the next date of the hearing, scheduled for the last week of April.

Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq, however, directed the counsel for Lakhvi, the leader of Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), to furnish two surety bonds of Rs500,000 each for the release.

During the course of Lakhvi’s petition against his detention, the government’s counsel presented before the court record of the sensitive reports prepared by the intelligence agencies about the activities of the petitioner. However, Advocate Raja Rizwan Abbasi told the court that the record presented by the government was not a secret information and easily available even on the internet.

The court also expressed dissatisfaction over the record and observed that the reasons cited by the government for the petitioner’s detention were not enough.

However, another detention order was issued by the DCO Okara and the petitioner was not released, the counsel added. He asked the court to strike down the impugned directive and order the government to release the petitioner.

Bail adjourned

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday adjourned the matter regarding cancellation of Lakhvi’s bail granted by the ATC till April 13.

A single bench, headed by Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi, heard the petition filed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against the ATC orders granting bail to Lakhvi.

While requesting the court for a simple adjournment, an assistant of the counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi told the court that Abbasi had to appear before the LHC, and that is why he was unable to attend the proceeding. While accepting the request, the court fixed the matter for hearing on April 13.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2015.